Funerary Servant for Pharaoh Seti I

ca. 1290 BCE

This statue of a funerary servant is exceptional by virtue of its size, the delicacy of its modelling and the quality of its intense blue glaze. As indicated by the royal cartouche in the middle of the text, it belonged to Seti I (c. 1290−1279 BCE), the father of Ramesses II. Even though he wears the royal nemes headdress and a rich usekh collar, the stylised agricultural implements he holds leave little doubt as to his function. Thus equipped, he will assist the deceased pharaoh in managing the fertile land granted him for all eternity.